The Eclectic Electric Sportscar
I've seen the future and it has four wheels, an electric motor and moves like the wind. The future is painted bright red, made of carbon fiber and is powered by 6,831 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The future has a top speed of close to 130 miles an hour and has a fuel efficiency--if you could refer to something without a gas tank and an internal combustion engine as fuel efficient--of about one penny a mile. The future has a range of 250 miles when topped off on clean-burning electric power.
Oh, the future also does 0-60 in 4 seconds and kicks you in the chest with more torque than you are used to. Drop the future into gear, hold onto your hats and glasses and away you go, off into the wild blue yonder. I've driven the future, its name is the Tesla Roadster and, to tell the truth, it's pretty darn awesome.
I've driven Audis at top speed on the autobahn, Lamborghinis on racetracks, Ducati's through the mountains outside of Bologna, Italy. I once sat shotgun in a vintage 1950s Mercedes-Benz SL Gullwing as we bombed up the Pacific Coast Highway at 125 miles an hour, the straight-six screaming, the ocean blowing past. But now that I've driven the Tesla at close to top speed on Caribbean Road in Sunnyvale, my perspective has changed.
Now, to tell the truth, I'm spoiled rotten.
